


we are pushed back (and down)

by sspideyman



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Adopted Peter Parker, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Dead May Parker (Spider-Man), Gen, Not Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Pepper is a good mom, Pepper is pregnant, Peter and Nebula become good friends, She Died Before IW Takes Place, Tony disappears instead of Peter, What-If
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-01-12
Packaged: 2019-09-05 08:54:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16807450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sspideyman/pseuds/sspideyman
Summary: Peter watched the three Guardians and Dr. Strange disappear, his heart hurting. Then right in front of him, his father, Tony Stark faded to dust.Now he and Nebula have to get to Earth, he had to see his mom, and Nebula just put herself in charge of this small child.--inspired by 'Titan' by Timothy_Boomerangtitle from 'Cloud' by Elias





	we are pushed back (and down)

_No. This is not allowed to happen, not to him. Nonono._

Tony smiled at Peter, a his son, one last time, pulling him into a hug, "I'm so sorry Pete."

_No._

Peter shakes his head, "No, y-you can't leave. What about Pepper? You guys are gonna get married. You can't leave her. You can't leave us!"

Tony holds him closer, "I love you so so much Peter, but you have to leave me behind. Get home to your mom. Tell Pepper that I love her more than anything, okay?"

Peter feels Tony's grip loosening, and he knows that the man isn't meaning to let go. 

"Dad." Peter cries out.

The man just forces out a smile, and says his last words, "Goodbye Peter," Then he's gone, and Peter just stares at the pile of ashes that take his place. The ashes are everywhere, on Peter's suit, in his hair, and blowing away in the soft wind of Titan.

Peter just sits there, unmoving of the position that Mr. Stark had held him in. 

_He really was gone._

"Spider, we need to go. Titan is dangerous after dark. I can get us back to Earth in a day's time if we leave now." Nebula holds out her hand to help Peter up, the first sign of kindness Peter had seen from her. 

He takes the offer, and Nebula leads him back to her small ship, which was only big enough to hold two or three people. 

"Peter." He doesn't look up from the ashes on his legs.

"Nice to meet you, Peter. I'm Nebula."

\--

The journey back was long and quiet. Peter either slept or just sat listening to the music Nebula was playing from an old iPod. It had clearly been through a lot, Peter noticed. None of the music on it was from the 2000's either, but he knew a lot of the songs due because his dad told him his music taste was superior.

Peter woke up from a small push from Nebula. Right outside the window was Earth, and Peter tried to muster a smile. 

"Where are we landing?" She asks Peter.

Peter only knew one place to go.

"New York."

\--

Peter directed Nebula to the Avengers compound, where he hoped he would see Pepper.

The compound was nearly empty. Only two people were inside.

Pepper and Happy. 

_Pepper._

"Hello?" He called out, the elevator landing on the common floor. Nebula stood silently next to him.

"Who's there?" A voice calls back. _Happy._

"It's Peter."

"Peter?" Happy and Pepper emerge from the kitchen pantry.

Seeing their faces made Peter relax a little, until he remembers what Tony told him.

_"Tell Pepper that I love her more than anything, okay?"_

"Mom.." Peter's voice trails off, tears forming in his eyes.

The woman runs forward and pulls him into a hug, "Oh Peter you're okay."

She pauses, looking from her son to the alien robot stood next to him.

"Whose this?"

"This is Nebula, she helped get me home from Titan. Nebula, this is my mom, Pepper, and Happy."

Nebula nods at the two, "Nice to meet you."

Happy gives a small wave, but Pepper moves from Peter to Nebula faster than a heartbeat, pulling her into a bone-crushing hug. "Thank you for bringing my son home."

"It was no problem, I needed something to do anyways."

Pepper let go of the part-android, looking back to Peter. "Honey, your dad should be back anytime now. Being the idiot hero he is, he went off into space, trying to stop whoever had come down to New York."

Peter nods, a tear falling down his face, "I know."

"You know?" Pepper frowns, "How did you know that, Peter?"

The boy shakes his head, then takes a shaky breath, "Be-because I was on the ship with him."

"Peter Benjam-" Pepper begins, but Peter cuts her off.

"I know, I know, I was being stupid, but mom. Dad was on Titan with me, and Dr. Strange, and the Guardians of the Galaxy, but that's besides the point. Right after Thanos got the time stone, he said to dad, _'I hope they remember you,'_ and then, then a few minutes after that, they all started to fade away. All of them. First was the weird bug lady, then the giant guy and the other Peter. Then Dr. Strange disappeared, and it was just Nebula, me and dad." Peter's face is covered in tears now, his voice getting smaller as he carries on with the story. "And then dad started apologizing and telling me how much he loved me, how much he loved you. And he was gone." Peter didn't saw anything else, and Pepper was staring at her son as if he were a ghost. The ashes covering his suit now clicked in her mind, Peter leaned into her chest, just as she fell to her knees. 

Tony, _her_ Tony, was gone. 

She held Peter close, and then next to her, Happy was on his knees, arms covering the two.

"I, I didn't even say 'I love you' back. He just blew away." Peter cries.

"Shh, Peter you're okay, I'm okay, we're okay."

They stayed there for hours, holding each other, mourning their friend, dad, fiance. 


End file.
